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Charlie Porter: Hindsight
by Paul Rauch
Portland based trumpeter/composer Charlie Porter is back, and following the trend industry wide over the past year, has released a finely crafted collection of pieces attached to a social narrative. Hindsight examines how we act in hindsight dealing with the long term societal struggles of racism, corruption and inequality. While two of the pieces feature the lyrics of Majid Khaliq and Madelaina Piazza, Porter has namaged to weave the emotional uncertainty of daily life during the Covid-19 pandemic into bittersweet ...
Continue ReadingCharles McPherson: Jazz Dance Suites
by Jerome Wilson
Alto saxophonist Charles McPherson has a reputation as one of the last true followers of the bebop tradition but this release shows that his talents stretch beyond that. The music consists of scores he wrote for the San Diego Ballet where his daughter Camille is a solo dancer. It encompasses two full suites and an excerpt from another. “Song Of Songs" is a set of compositions based on impressions about love drawn from the Song Of Solomon. The ...
Continue ReadingAndy Fusco: Remembrance
by David A. Orthmann
Since 2016 SteepleChase Records has released five discs by alto saxophonist Andy Fusco. This impressive, often stunning body of work goes a long way in raising the profile of a man who had seldom been given the opportunity to record under his own name. While Fusco leads the sessions, he's the antithesis of a star or domineering force. Aside from his prowess on the horn, he possesses an unusual talent for putting together bands of uniquely talented individuals and choosing ...
Continue ReadingAdam Shulman Septet: West Meets East
by Jack Bowers
The “west" here is represented by San Francisco-based pianist and group leader Adam Shulman, the “east" by the other half-dozen members of Shulman's impressive septet. Even though the reasons that led to the alliance are ambiguous, what matters is the payoff, and that is more than admirable from any vantage point. As if to mirror the ensemble's six-and-one makeup, Shulman wrote six of the album's seven engaging numbers; the seventh (the rapid-fire “Whose Blues") was composed by ...
Continue ReadingJimmy Heath: Love Letter
by Thomas Fletcher
Often nicknamed “Little Bird," Jimmy Heath began on the alto saxophone acquiring this informal title by dedicating his studies to Charlie Parker and his wee stature. Although not a familiar name to many outside of the devoted jazz community, Heath would go on to pursue a remarkable 76-year career sadly passing away in January, 2020. A fabled musician to many tenor players, Heath presents us with his final testament, a collection of formative ballads. Enhancing the already prolific ...
Continue ReadingJimmy Heath: Love Letter
by Chris May
Love Letter is the final album to be made by saxophonist Jimmy Heath, who passed in January 2020 aged 93. It was completeted just a month earlier. The title is well chosen: the album is a love letter to jazz, a love letter to ballads, and a love letter to Heath's surviving family members, friends and audience. Soulful and luminous, it is everything one could hope for in the last will and testament of a jazz master. ...
Continue ReadingPeter And Will Anderson: Featuring Jimmy Cobb
by Edward Blanco
Grammy Award-winning saxophonists and identical twins, Peter and Will Anderson document another burner of a recording on their Featuring Jimmy Cobb album, released within days of the passing of the legendary drummer in May 2020. The last surviving member of the Miles Davis band that recorded the ground-breaking jazz album Kind of Blue (Columbia, 1959), Jimmy Cobb passed away at age 91. While not originally designed as a tribute project, this album may well be one of ...
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